AUSTIN, Texas — On Tuesday, March 30, Travis County Judge Andy Brown and Austin Mayor Steve Adler announced that the eviction moratorium in Austin-Travis County will again be extended, this time to May 1.
The moratorium on residential evictions was enacted as a result of COVID-19 and has been extended multiple times over the last several months as the pandemic continues. It has protected people who cannot pay rent and has allowed them to remain in their homes.
As previously reported, Travis County has online resources for tenants facing eviction. The Travis County Sheriff’s Office also has a brochure for Evictions and Lease Terminations. An extensive description of tenant rights in Travis County can be found through the Travis County Law Library and Self-Help Center.
In addition, the Austin Tenant's Council offers counseling to prepare for and understand the eviction process, including reviewing the notices tenants have received and assisting tenants with preparing for court if necessary. This service has a Spanish option.
The City of Austin has passed a Tenant Relocation Assistance ordinance to make sure landlords provide appropriate and timely information to tenants in the event of the demolition of a multifamily building of five or more units, rezoning, or the redevelopment of a mobile home park. For more information about the ordinance and requirements, visit the Tenant Relocation Assistance Policy website.
“These eviction protections help keep thousands of people in our community housed and save lives,” Brown said on March 30. “We must keep these eviction protections in place to protect the health and safety of our community while we work to rapidly vaccinate all of Travis County. At the same time, we are working hard to expand access to rental assistance to mitigate the financial burden COVID-19 has placed on renters and landlords.”
"These protections save lives by keeping residents safe in their homes during the pandemic," added Adler. "Austin and Travis County are proud to have the lowest evictions and the lowest rate of COVID-19 fatalities in Texas. We also know that as public health conditions improve, our order will change as well. Earlier this month, we launched the RENT 3.0 rental assistance program to help landlords and tenants weather the pandemic. We will continue to provide rental relief funding to keep residents safe in their homes and ease the financial burden on landlords. Landlords are now eligible to apply for these funds and households can receive up to 15 months of rental assistance. And we expect more federal funds for rental assistance from the American Rescue Act. This will help us continue to help our vulnerable residents that are struggling to pay rent and mitigate the impact on landlords."
According to a press release from the mayor's office, recent research suggests that evictions have been associated with hundreds of thousands of additional COVID-19 cases in cities without protections. And data from the Princeton University Eviction Lab shows that U.S. cities with additional protections for renters saw far fewer evictions filed during the pandemic. Adler said Austin leads big cities across Texas in lowest pandemic related evictions, and has some of the fewest filings in the nation.
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